To and From The Chamonix Experience

So I just spent the last 5 days in Chamonix (plus a travel day on the front end, and a travel NIGHT on the back end – see more about the night later on) with my sister Janet for Christmas. I arrived on Friday afternoon/evening after a day spent on the train from Nijmegen. Looking at the flight schedules it looked like it actually made sense to take the train and not fly or drive…..hmmmmm…..lets think about that for a sec (hindsight – what a wonderful concept):
Driving:
- entire day (9-10 hours) spent in the car
- nobody to talk to, no iPod right now either (warranty)
- have to pay gas and tolls too
- the benefit of having a car in Chamonix is outweighed by not needing one there
- decision: driving alone suks
Flying:
- either from Amsterdam or Brussels (the only airports that service Geneva or Lyon)
- Amsterdam = 1.5 hr train ride Nijmegen-Amsterdam and a 4 hr train ride Geneva-Chamonix
- Brussels = 2.5 hr train ride Nijmegen-Brussels and a 2 hr train ride Lyon-Chamonix
- Add in the flying time, plus time spent at large airports with the security and the holiday rush and I decided to check out other options
- decision: flying during the holidays blows (however I would do it next time)
Train:
- 12 hrs total
- Very easy transfers (2)
- I can take the sleeper train back (where I’m writing this now)
- The thought of having 12 hours to tap away on my computer and read my book in virtual peace (with 3 spare laptop batteries) actually appealed to me quite a bit
- decision: the sleeper train fucking suks - 0 sleep :o(

So the trip to Chamonix was a resounding success. That’s the longest period I’ve had yet to actually work on my computer and I took full advantage of it. I enjoyed the train ride too, as I could take breaks and walk around, hang at the food car, and generally take an easy day.

Where I’m at right now is a little tough. So I’ve traveled overnight on trains before and actually really enjoyed it – I find it quite a peaceful sleep with the consistent rocking of the train. This time is a bit different. I didn’t think anything when they booked me on a sleeper car in a compartment for 6 – again, I’ve traveled on a train overnight before, so I knew what I was doing, right? Haha. So as I’m walking along the train I notice there’s compartments with tones of space and only 2 beds – I think “Jeeze, that looks pretty comfy! Can’t wait to see what I’ve got!” Then come the compartments of 4 – still pretty roomy, and I think I’m in for a good nights sleep.

Then I get to my car – holy shit. They’re the same size compartments as the 2-beds, but they’ve stacked them 3 high. I have barely enough room above my body to open my laptop screen – I can’t remember the last time I felt like such a sardine! Not to mention everybody’s got huge bags, and where exactly are they supposed to go? Wtf – who designed these things! So I’m on the bottom bunk, which means I’ll spend the night with the massive pile of luggage in the ‘center’ of our compartment balancing precariously over my (hopefully) slumbering head. If I don’t send this out it’s because I’ve been crushed by some German lady’s massive roller suitcase, or maybe my own backpack – wouldn’t that be ironic! I could see the headlines now: “Backpacker lives out of backpack for 1 week, then smothered by own pack in freak sleeper-cabin mishap.”

If they make a movie out of it (ok a short movie) who’d play me??? Probably a cross between Chevy Chase and Vin Diesel (yeah for those of you that haven’t seen me in a while I’ve pumped up a bit….yeah, riiiiight.....). Oh well – sweet dreamzzzzzzzzzzzz…………